Monday's book review: On Dublin Street

because i've been doing a ton of reading lately (shocker), i decided to start a Monday's Book Review of whatever i'm reading. if i like the reviewing of books, i'll add other days too, but for now, let's just stick with monday's shall we? good. thanks.

now, to warn you, my current favorite genre is adult erotica romance, and while that might not be your cup-o-tea, it's mine and this is my blog. so there. if the book doesn't have an HEA (happily ever after) i really won't read it. it's just that simple, people. good ending yes. bad ending no. easy.

plus, i've had a dry spell with my posts and maybe writing about what i'm reading will help get me back into the swing of blogging.

so i'm going to start with On Dublin Street, recommended to me via Maryse. if you don't read her blog, she's a great resource for all things romance and paranormal. i'm beginning with this book simply because i just finished it and it's still fresh in my mind.

this particular book i listened to, but i also have it in e-reader format. 

 
On Dublin Street


by Samantha Young

now in my early forties, i find myself in a teenage wonderland of adult erotica, but after a recent running jag on that genre i thought i'd try On Dublin Street. it had great reviews from my favorite book blog, Maryse, but a lot of her reviews can be upbeat and not always my taste.

this book was so good, right from the start. i listened to it back-to-back because i just couldn't let the characters "go" -- and put them back on the shelf, so-to-speak.

jocelyn meets braden whilst sharing a cab. there's instant attraction but end up exiting the cab without exchanging any personal information. jocelyn rents a flat with ellie, who ends up being braden's sister--what a great twist to it too, because while i kinda figured it out, it was fun to watch it unfold in the story.

jocelyn has issues that she rarely, if ever, speaks of, and braden is interested in getting with jocelyn however he can. they set up a "friends with benefits" agreement to last three months. it's during those three months where we are put through the ringer of emotional turmoil with jocelyn, but oh, how i loved the ride.

braden is tender yet incredibly fun and quick-witted. i think he's my new christian grey. sigh. the chemistry between them is completely infectious, the banter fantastic. i found myself giggling all over the place and let's not forget the steamy scenes. oh my word, they were amazing. my heart was beating out of my chest.

the character development was excellent and i hear that there's a second book to come out may 7th, about one of the characters mentioned in this book. so of course, i'll be getting book two as well. also, the narration was superb and it made the book so enjoyable.

give it a try, even if you LOVED or HATED Fifty Shades, this is nothing like that (no paddling, weird sex or angry sex scenes in Dublin). it was refreshingly sweet but still had a great deal of drama.

i adored On Dublin Street and i think you will too.

updated 1.29.13: i found a "christmas edition" story from my goodreads search. here's the linky over on smexybooks' blog. i can't wait to read this. :) love joss and braden. click HERE to read the christmas short by samantha.



ps: these opinions are strictly my own, i was not paid to write my review. 

Next on my list...

While working on orders today, I finished Drums of Autumn and I must say that I'm sad. It's such a wonderful series that Diana Gabaldon has written, that it makes me want to hurry on to the next book, The Fiery Cross. However, I've decided to take a break from her books and do some more light-hearted works instead.

Now, I know you're wondering what I'm going to read next (because many of you email me, asking! hee hee) so I'll tell you. I am going to start Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris (same author as my beloved Sookie books!). Also, there's a book that my son wants me to read (something about a house and a scorpion?). He promises me that I'll love it. When he was in the middle of the book he kept wanting to tell me all about it and finally he said, "well, you're just going to have to read it because I can't tell you everything!" lol So, I'll take his advice and read that one too.

I'll miss my Jamie and Claire, but I'll get back to them after the holidays, it will give me something to look forward to.

What are you reading?



PS: I have these on special today... in honor of December 1st and all the little boys and girls waiting on Santa.

Diana Gabaldon comes to Lexington!

Ok peeps!

It was awesome! You know, I've never been to a book signing (unless you can count the children's book guy - Kevin Henkes and Jimmy Carter's signing of his book of poems), and this was really fun. :) I'm definitely doing it again...they said she would be back to Lexington. Yay!

Missy and I left my house a little after 4p to meet up with Moon who was already in Lex. We had dinner at the Bistro (always grand--they do a great chicken salad on croissant with bacon and swiss... excellent! you must try it out sometime) and then headed downstairs to wait.

Our wait wasn't terribly long, maybe an hour or so. It was pleasant chatting with other Outlander-lovers and finding out that we also had other similar loves regarding books (ie: Sookie, Twilight etc). Who knew!? lol It was giggles about this and that, fun stuff. Among the fans we saw some kilt-wearing fellas that had no resemblance to James Frazier at all, but I suppose they were just trying to do their best for Mrs. Gabaldon. It cracked me up a little, seeing all the folks in their garb. Am I not a true fan because I didn't have my "I'd leave my husband for Jamies Fraser" t-shirt on? lol Maybe I need to snag one soon... yes. Add it to My List.

Diana was a great speaker, had us laughing throughout her entire speech, if that's what you call it. She gave wonderful details about how she came up with the idea to write this book and how Jamie and Claire "exist" in her mind. I especially loved how she brought Claire to life. Shouldn't I have told her that our little Yorkie teacup is named after Claire? ::sigh:: I completely forgot. Darn. Oh well. Next time. Again with the List.

The highlight was when she began to read a particular passage from Echo and well, um, ::cough cough:: it was a tad (!!!) racy and um, ::stammers and stutters:: it was loverly. lol We all giggled like school girls when she mentioned a few bits and pieces (go with me here, won't you?) and um, ::more coughing:: it was enough to bring beads of sweat to your forehead. :) (but in a good way,of course!)

Missy, Moon and I are all anxious to get to the next book, they're both mid-way through Dragonfly in Amber while I'm nearly finished with Voyager, gearing up for Drums of Autumn. The great thing is knowing how many more we have ahead of us. Do you remember that newness you had when reading Twilight or even Sookie and you thought, "how awesome is this that I'm just at the beginning with the whole series ahead of me?" Yeah. That's where we are right now. :) Good stuff.

So, while we're waiting for our turn at signing, we chat with two sisters (they were a hoot!!!) and I think they were Erin and Amanda... (girls, if you're reading this, it was terrific meeting you!). We had a wonderful time giggling over movies and things our kids do (or shouldn't do). It's always nice to find nice folks to talk to. Moon says I can find people anywhere I go. Isn't that the best thing? To find people just to chat with (as long as they're not crazy?--altho I can handle a little crazy cuz I'm definitely not right in the head, I know that much! lol!). When we bought the book, we were given a letter to be handed in when it was our turn for signing. Anyhoo, Erin and Amanda were a letter ahead of me and I was able to poke up in line with them. Thank you tons, ladies!

Well, all in all it was a simply splendid evening and I am so glad that I was able to attend the event, never having done anything like that before. It's makes you appreciate the book even more, getting to hear how she came up with them? You know? How imaginative. I enjoyed that the most, I think. I wish you could have been there!

Have a great day tomorrow, more things coming to the shoppe. :)

My Sister's Keeper - the movie

I read. No. Wait. Back-up. I listen. It helps pass the time while I'm torching or cleaning the kitchen or folding laundry or beading or, or, or. It began with the upset that I couldn't finish the final Harry Potter book and desperately needed to finish it. Jim Dale happened to be on tv to receive an award for his narration. Why not? I thought. So I bought the seventh book on audio and I haven't looked back since.

I suppose one might ask why I wasn't reading something of more substance, say a book on how-to-anything or on the life of some great person that I don't know. Nah. That's not for me. I'm a chick-flick kinda gal and have zero interest in bettering herself with the know-how's of someone else who already figured it out. *smirk* No, wait, I do want to better myself, YES! But I really like to 'escape' when I'm working, have my own place to go in the midst of the beautiful chaos that lies in front of me... oodles of colorful rods stacked on top of one another, ahhh the color. I so love the color. (here I go again with the color!) Okay, let's put it another way...

When I began this thing that I do, this awesomeness thing of making jewelry, it was a hobby, or I thought it would be a hobby. Fast-forward seven and a half years later? Yeah. It is so not a hobby. It turns out that it's more than a hobby, it's a job. Someone once said that if you want to succeed in life you must do what you love. Well, I don't know if I've necessarily "succeeded" in life but I sure do LOVE what I do. At night, I think about beads, I dream about beads, I wake up thinking about what I can do with beads... well, you get the point. So, yeah. I love what I do. For that, I am more than grateful and cannot believe how this gig landed its way into my lap. Awesomeness on a platter.

Yup. So now that my hobby has become my job, I have no hobby. I needed a hobby. Oh boy, now what? WHAT NOW? I could take photos or scrap (like *someone* I know) but I'm not really good at either of those things and as much as I'd love it, I don't have that kind of "extra time" to devote to a true HOBBY.

So. My hobby is this. Listening to books on my iPod. At any given time I carry around fifteen books with me and it's fantastic. I flip through them as if I'm turning the pages of my favorite magazine. My eyes glaze over when the book becomes intense and the thrill is creeping up on me unexpected, I have to pay close attention. Is there no better feeling than getting lost in a good book? Okay, I'll answer that for you... no, there's not! And, it's not like I just picked up the habit of "reading" yesterday. LOL Nope, ladies and gents, to your amazement I have been reading novels since I was a child and yessss... I read them. Puleeze. I see your eyes rolling at me. What's with that anyway?! (growing up my favorite book series was Flowers in the Attic -- yeah I know it's a gross story but come on now, it was a GREAT series!) I think I've just evolved into the next level of reading. Listening. (no eye rolling!)

Currently, I am listening to Charlaine Harris' novels about Harper Connelly. I love them. I actually just finished them and in great need of a new book series that I can sink my teeth into (no, they don't have to be vampire books!--Harper isn't a vampire, mind you).

A few of my friends suggested that I read, My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. I have to say that I found it thoroughly entertaining and completely plausible, although I was LESS THAN THRILLED with the ending. Which is probably why I stopped reading all the Jodi Picoult books (ie: 19 Minutes) because I was tired of being in the courtroom (most of her books develop in the courtroom). Not my thing. Plus, the endings! OMG. I am NOT a fan of bad endings. Sad endings. Slightly sad endings (ie: Odd Thomas) or anything close to being sad. No. Didn't you hear me before? I like CHICK-FLICKS? So translate that into CHICK-BOOKS and we're on the same page. :) Yessereee. I so love me a good story where everyone ends up together in the end. :) What's wrong with that? I'm also not a fan of crying while working. There has been more than one occasion where I had tears streaming down my face (and nose) and dripping onto my work table. Uh? Yeah. That's not fun. I like drowning in happiness and laughing. Escape! Remember? Keep up!

However, having said all of the above, I need to mention that My Sister's Keeper was simply fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, not knowing where it was going until the final scene and then and only then did I realize that it wasn't going to end ANYTHING like I had in my mind. That's a good book, if you ask me. So, when I found out that a movie was being made of the book, well I got a little excited and thought I'd share the video from youtube with you all. :) Now, don't go out and read the book. Just wait for the movie. The book is about 20 hours long and unless you have a lot of time to kill, just wait and see it in the theaters when you can have a nice cold diet coke and a bag of gummy bears. :) That'll do.

Remember, if you want to watch the clip, scroll to the very BOTTOM of my blog and turn off the playlist music player so you don't have two things going at once. :)